Sex Tape

In a prologue, Annie (Cameron Diaz) blogs incessantly about the spicy sex life she enjoyed with her husband Jay (Jason Segel) in college, carnal pleasures that continued right up until they married and had children (Sebastian Hedges Thomas, Giselle Eisenberg), after which suburban life—and exhaustion—took their toll. Annie comes up with the idea of sending the kids to Grandma (Nancy Lenehan) for an overnight visit, after which the couple make a three-hour sex tape—depicting all of the anatomical positions in The Joy of Sex. Predictably, the next morning Jay forgets to erase the evidence of their vigorous frolic and inadvertently uploads it to the elusive Cloud, where it is distributed via gifted iPads to friends and family. Joined by their voyeuristic pals (Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper), Annie and Jay try to retrieve the iPads, after which—sleepy children in tow—they break into the San Fernando Valley headquarters of a sex-video website and are caught by the porn broker (Jack Black). Idiotically scripted, and sluggishly directed by Jake Kasdan, this is a tepid and terminally dull film that never achieves its farcical potential (although it does feature a pivotal appearance by Rob Lowe, who starred in his own, real-life celebrity sex tape scandal back in 1988). A flaccid comedy that frantically tries to combine family fun with a shallow sexcapade, this is not a necessary purchase. (S. Granger)